She smells like jasmine and french fries - Creating brand authenticity appealing to the millennial fashion consumer

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School of Arts, Design and Architecture | Master's thesis
Ask about the availability of the thesis by sending email to the Aalto University Learning Centre oppimiskeskus@aalto.fi
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P1 OPINNÄYTTEET D 2019 Wahl

Date

2019

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design

Language

en

Pages

96+5

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Abstract

Millennial consumers are a large and influential generation that seeks meaningful experiences. They are financially powerful and direct a substantial share of their spending to fashion products. However, marketers struggle to leverage the potential of this generation because segmenting it is challenging. Millennials are a consumer cohort raised under the influence of several overlapping megatrends. These consumers are at a troubling intersection between modernist consumption ideals in fashion and postmodernist society, which is flooded with information and endless options. This uncertainty causes them to seek authenticity in the fashion brands they use for self-expression. Conversely, appearing honest, authentic, and true to their identity has proved to be difficult for brands that attempt to consciously control the meanings attached to them. This thesis provides perspectives on the presence of fashion brands as a part of Millennials’ lives and the kind of strategies that should be considered for producing relevant, meaningful authenticity when targeting Generation Y. In order to do this, the thesis analyzes the Finnish fashion and lifestyle brand Marimekko as a case study. A secondary aim of this analysis is to help the company to reflect, to become inspired, and to benefit from the insights offered. The theoretical part examines the Millennial’s relationship to fashion brands by combining self-congruity theory with the concept of pluralized authentic identities and further with the theory of semantic transformation in design. The author’s autoethnographic position and the concepts discussed in the literature review direct the thesis to consider the richness of the brand’s sensorial experience and its role in producing authenticity. The artistic part of the thesis continues by scrutinizing the sensorial approach to brand management by producing a conceptual ensemble of knitted garments that offer storytelling through tactile experiences. The thesis suggests two implications for brand managers. First, brands should develop a resonating and implicit brand personality, a ‘brand-as-person’. Second, the design should focus on captivating sensorial experiences that transmit the brand’s storytelling. Thus, in order to appeal to Millennial fashion consumers, brands should use new approaches on both the abstract level of the brand as well as in the design direction.

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Supervisor

Hirvonen, Pirjo

Thesis advisor

Lindberg-Repo, Kirsti
Aarras, Tiina

Keywords

brands, branding, authenticity, generation y, millennial, fashion

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